Dhananjaya De Silva urges Sri Lanka's fast bowlers to raise their game ahead of Colombo Test

India defeated Sri Lanka by 165 runs in the first Test at Galle between August 15 and 19, 2026. The second Test is scheduled at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground in Colombo. Sri Lanka Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva has identified the performance of his fast bowling unit as an area requiring improvement as the team prepares for the next match.

De Silva expressed his concerns about the confidence levels within his pace bowling group. He acknowledged that if his fast bowlers could increase their intensity by even a small margin, it would benefit the team's overall performance. According to de Silva, Sri Lanka's current resources limit the options available for the bowling attack.

"Our fast bowlers lack that confidence. If they can raise their game a little bit - [by] a few percent - we can move forward better as a team," Silva said as quoted by Cricinfo.

De Silva identified Lahiru Kumara and Asitha Fernando as his preferred pace bowling partnership for the current series. Kumara has played 36 Tests and claimed 106 Test wickets at an average of 36.38. In the first Test against India at Galle, Kumara returned figures of 2 for 104. Throughout his career, Kumara has faced significant injury challenges that have prevented him from completing multiple consecutive Test matches. De Silva explained the reasoning behind his selection of the two bowlers.

"At the moment, given our resources, Lahiru Kumara is the best match to partner Asitha. Asitha's line and length is perfect, and Lahiru Kumara has the pace. With the resources we have now, these are the best players," Silva said.

Sri Lanka's fast bowling depth remains a concern for the captain. The country has other quick bowlers in its system, including Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka and Matheesha Pathirana. Madushanka was part of the Test squad for the Galle Test but was released to play domestic T20 cricket and did not feature in the squad for the Colombo Test. Chameera has played 12 Tests in his career, with his last appearance coming in 2021. Due to his injury history and his value to Sri Lanka's limited-overs teams, the selectors have prioritised preserving Chameera for white-ball formats.

De Silva would prefer to have multiple fast bowlers capable of bowling at speeds exceeding 140 kilometres per hour. Currently, Sri Lanka has only one bowler in its Test set-up who regularly operates at that pace.

"I'd also like for there to be two or three bowlers who can bowl at more than 140kph, but unfortunately we only have one bowler like that [in the Test set-up]. Foreign pace bowlers have taken five wickets in Galle, for instance, but recently, none of our seamers have done that at Galle or SSC," Silva said.

"I believe pacers have a role to play in Sri Lanka. If your fast bowlers can get wickets here, they can get wickets anywhere. That's something we have to learn quickly,"he added.